


high school sweethearts

by maeruth



Series: afterschool [3]
Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Drug Use, Hand Jobs, M/M, Masturbation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prom, Teacher-Student Relationship, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:28:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22567837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeruth/pseuds/maeruth
Summary: Lio hadn't been looking forward to his senior Prom, but that was before he met Mr. Thymos.
Relationships: Aina Ardebit/Lucia Fex, Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Series: afterschool [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596691
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	high school sweethearts

**Author's Note:**

> happy early promare blu-ray dvd release day!! im broke and sad so guess i'll take it out on mr. thymos

Lio Fotia was, for lack of a better term, a heart throb amongst his class, if not the entire school. Thus, it wasn’t unusual for him to get asked to school dances, and with senior prom coming up in a week, he had been dealing with more requests than usual.

He used to feel guilty after he rejected someone. He particularly hated watching them put on a forced smile and walk away. Now, after years of distasteful promposals and tacky love letters being shoved into his locker, he didn’t care as much. 

Because now, things were different. He had Mr. Thymos. 

Lio stared at the glow in the dark stars spanning his ceiling, trying and failing to get some sleep. He was thinking about Mr. Thymos dressed in a tux, corsage in hand with that bashful smile Lio had only seen a few rare times. Turning onto his side, he slid a hand into his sweatpants.

It was the only reason he was looking forward to prom. Lio knew Mr. Thymos had been volunteered to chaperone the dance, along with a handful of other faculty, and it all felt like fate. As if everything they had gone through was ultimately leading up to that night. He would get to share the night with him, sneaking glances and sly touches before finally getting him alone. Lio would have to wear something special, something delicate with lace and ribbon that Mr. Thymos could tear off. They would take things slow this time, and then his hands would go there and Mr. Thymos would press there and he’d be so  _ full— _

Lio shuddered, biting down on his forefinger as he came into his hand. Prom night was going to be fucking glorious.

♡

“Lio,” Mr. Thymos held up a small pink envelope in his hand, “What’s this about?”

Lio looked up from his phone, sitting across the man in Mrs. Fex’s desk. It had become routine for Lio to invade Mr. Thymos’ privacy even in the faculty offices, which is where he spent most of his time after school as of late. “Your invitation. Pick me up at 7, by the way.”

“I’m not— I can’t go with you as your date, Lio, seriously?” he set the envelope down, sighing. “I’m a chaperone. And your  _ teacher.” _

Lio frowned, settling his head over his folded arms on the desk. “You know you’re more than that to me, babe.”

The pet names never worked, but Lio liked using them either way. It made this feel like a real relationship. As if there was something else between them that wasn’t just physical compatibility, and even  _ that _ was still difficult to convince Mr. Thymos of sometimes. 

Mr. Thymos ignored him, turning back to the stack of papers sprawled across his desk. “I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding someone else to go with you.”

_ But no one else on earth would ever be as good for me as you, _ he wanted to say. Instead, he kicked one of his shoes off and brushed his foot against the man’s calf, going higher and higher. Mr. Thymos’ hand wavered in the middle of highlighting a sentence, but continued as if nothing were happening. 

Lio figured he had to say he wasn’t going to prom with him for appearances. He was right, after all, and Mr. Thymos  _ was  _ his teacher, but that didn’t mean what they had wasn’t real. 

Lio considered the man across from him before leaving his chair to slide onto Mr. Thymos’ desk. What  _ did  _ they have? He knew, but sometimes Mr. Thymos had trouble remembering, even after all of this time together. Even now, as he pulled him forward by his lanyard into a kiss, papers scattered onto the floor. Why couldn’t he see Lio the way Lio saw him? 

Part of him suspected it was because of Principal Foresight, always lingering in the background like some sort of parasite in Mr. Thymos’ mind. Could Foresight really even make him feel as good as Lio did? Of course not. Mr. Thymos should know that, moaning and bucking his hips into Lio’s hand. They were  _ meant _ to be together, goddammit, and they were meant to share Lio’s senior prom night  _ together _ . 

Lio bit down on his neck, settling for Mr. Thymos’ lukewarm reaction to being asked to prom. He knew Mr. Thymos wouldn’t be able to stay away. He would make absolutely sure of that.

♡

His parents didn’t ask about his lack of a date, and Lio didn’t bring it up. He figured it would bring on an uncomfortable conversation about his lack of a girlfriend, which was a minefield he would rather avoid. Lio didn’t think it was a particularly good time to come out to his parents on the night of his senior prom, but then again,  _ no  _ time would ever be good. They had voiced their opinions on queer folk plenty of times— “I don’t mind them, but thank God  _ my _ kid isn’t gay”— enough times for Lio to stay put in the closet. 

Still, they proceeded with the typical prom night routine: photos, embarrassing kisses that left his cheek smudged with his mother’s lipstick, a clap on the back from his father coupled with a wink. They knew what typically happened on prom nights.  _ Everyone  _ knew. Lio wondered if his father would be patting him on the back if he knew his son was about to take it up the ass.

Meis and Gueira picked him up before promptly declaring they would spend their prom night dinner at the cheap burger joint a few blocks from campus. Lio expected nothing less, personally a fan of their greasy fries and sugary milkshakes, but barely touched his food. All he could think of was Mr. Thymos in a tux. 

If Meis and Gueira noticed something wrong with Lio at dinner, neither of them mentioned it. In that regard, Lio was grateful. He didn’t think he would be able to keep his relationship to himself if they asked, afraid that he might just come out and say “Oh, by the way, I’m losing my virginity to Mr. Thymos from gym tonight. Also, I might be in love with him.”

The drive to campus was short. Lio’s hands were shaky, so he asked Gueira for a smoke. 

“You nervous or something?” Gueira handed his pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the front seat, twisting to look at the blonde. “You’ve been kinda distracted since we picked you up.”

“Nothing to be nervous over,” he muttered, lighting up and taking a long drag. “It’s just prom.”

“How many people did you reject?” Meis asked, smiling. “I heard about that last one. Yikes.”

“She just wasn’t my type.” Lio said, remembering the brunette who had poured her heart out to him rather loudly in front of his locker. He rolled the window down to blow smoke out. “Too… emotional.”

“I don’t get it, dude. What  _ is  _ your type?” Gueira said. “We’ve known you since sixth grade and you’ve  _ never  _ dated anyone.”

“Unlike you, who’s dated  _ so  _ many people.” Lio said, smiling.

“He’s been rejected more times than he’s actually dated anyone.” Meis agreed, earning a punch to the shoulder. “C’mon, you know it’s true.”

“It  _ isn’t _ , asshole, you know I’m still getting over Madeline from freshman year—”

“That was  _ three  _ years ago, and you only dated for two months.”

“Oh, you know more about romance because your longest relationship was what, six months?”

Their bickering faded into the background as Lio leaned into his arms, half hanging out of the car window. This was usual for the three of them, to spend their time joking and sharing cigarettes before finding trouble somewhere in town. This night shouldn’t have been any different, but in a million ways, it was. Lio knew he should tell them about Mr. Thymos, and he  _ wanted  _ to. They weren’t the biggest fans of him, so they would probably see this as Lio taking power over some idiotic adult. They would probably respect him for it. 

Or they could call him crazy and get Mr. Thymos arrested— or worse. He wasn’t sure what they were capable of when they were truly angry. He had only ever seen them get  _ really  _ angry once back during freshman year, and it wasn’t pretty. Gueira had a black eye for two weeks while Meis had to cut his hair after nearly getting it burned off, and that was just them fighting off another group of assholes who pushed them too far. Against one person, particularly a person who wasn’t the best at fighting back… Lio didn’t want to think about what they would do to him. The only person who could lay hands on Mr. Thymos was himself. 

Lio reached into the inner pocket of his tuxedo jacket, rolling around two little white pills with his index finger and thumb. The only person who could hurt Mr. Thymos was himself. 

♡

Lio hadn’t been to prom before, opting to skip junior prom last year because who the hell even  _ went  _ to junior prom, so he didn’t know what to expect. He had seen glamorized versions from movies and TV, obviously, but he knew none of those depictions could really be all that true. His evening didn’t quite start off in the way most cheesy rom coms did — he didn’t pick up his date while being stared down by their parents, corsage in hand while waiting for a girl to walk through the door. 

He would have liked to pick up his date, though. It would have been nice to see where Mr. Thymos lived. 

Gueira and Meis pushed him through the doors to the gym, music pulsing through the walls and into the night air. The theme was “Fairytale Night”, and though it wasn’t exactly original, in Lio’s opinion, it  _ was  _ pretty. Paper star lanterns hung from the ceiling, barely brushing against the large swirling tree that sat in the middle of the gym, lit up with fairy lights. Paper lanterns hung from the branches, a dim, warm glow emitted from each. 

“The art club did most of the decorations, right?” Meis murmured as they shuffled into the room and through the crowd. 

Lio nodded. “Not bad.” 

The tables were decorated in moss and small, red mushrooms, all courtesy of the art club. A photobooth was set against one wall, encased with crawling vines and pastel flowers. The words “Happily Ever After” hung over it in cursive. Lio smiled at that. 

They were careful not to step on any dresses or toes on the way towards an empty table. While the rest of the gym was decorated quite well, the basketball court lines on the floor weren’t as charming. 

“Couldn’t have thrown some grass over ‘em?” Gueira said. 

“You really want people slipping and falling onto their ass?” Lio scoffed, taking a seat. He scanned the crowd from the corner of his eye, looking for a shock of blue hair. 

Meis noticed his wandering eyes. “Looking for someone?” 

Lio kept cool, dragging his gaze from the growing crowd back towards his friends. Gueira was inspecting a mason jar stuffed with fairy lights that acted as a centerpiece to the table, and Meis was looking directly at him, eyebrow quirked. 

Meis was always the more observant of the trio. He didn’t talk much, but he didn’t need to. Gueira and Lio talked enough for him, and he was better off watching and commenting when the time was right. 

So how long had he been watching Lio?

“No,” the blonde said cooly, adjusting his cufflinks. “Just looking for a drink.”

“Dude, you think someone spiked the punch bowl?” Gueira asked, leaning forward to whisper. He didn’t need to, since the music was already loud over his voice. 

“Not with the amount of chaperones they’ve got.” Meis said, sighing. Lio wondered if he sighed at the lack of alcohol or Lio’s lukewarm answer from earlier. 

The bounce in Lio’s leg was back, and he itched to get away from the two for a moment. “I’ll be right back.” 

Meis stare was too intruding, too knowing. But how much  _ did  _ he know? Lio kept it hidden so well, had hardly interacted with Mr. Thymos during school hours and made sure no one saw when he slipped into the faculty offices. Maybe he didn’t know anything at all. Maybe he was just concerned for Lio, which was delightfully sweet of him, seeing as no one else paid much attention to Lio, but he shouldn’t be intruding. Lio was going to tell them everything, eventually. Once prom was over, once Lio had confessed, once Mr. Thymos was drugged and taken to an empty classroom—

_ Oh.  _

Lio stopped in his tracks. 

Mr. Thymos stood under the lantern-lit tree, fairy lights giving him an almost ethereal glow. His glasses were perched perfectly on his nose, brand new black frames, emphasizing his perfect cheekbones and slight flush across his cheeks. Instead of those red gym shorts, he sported an absolute perfect black suit and tie, heeled shoes and all. He was talking to Mrs. Fex and her wife, a perfect cheesy smile plastered across his face that made Lio’s chest warm. 

He looked perfect, perfect,  _ perfect.  _

Lio wanted to hold his hand. Lio wanted to smell his cologne. Lio wanted to loop his arm with his and pull him towards the dance floor, swaying to something slow. Lio wanted to pull him down by his lanyard and kiss him right in front of everyone. 

Mr. Thymos’ eyes glanced up towards his, widening for a brief moment before darting elsewhere. Lio didn’t mind, knowing he was probably shy, and made his way towards him.

Mrs. Fex noticed him first. “Hey, Lio!”

He came to stand next to Mr. Thymos, hands held politely behind his back as he smiled sweetly. “Hi, Mrs. Fex— and Mrs. Fex,” his joke earned a laugh from the pair, but Mr. Thymos stayed quiet, “It’s nice to finally meet your wife, after hearing you talk about her so often.”

Mrs. Fex flushed, going on about how she didn’t really, or did she? either way it was because her wife was a brilliant scientist and this and that. Lio inched closer to the man on his left, feigning interest in her rambling and her wife’s giggling. They  _ were  _ cute, but Lio didn’t have the mind to appreciate them. Not when Mr. Thymos stood so perfectly right next to him, stiffening when he brushed his shoulder against his. He’s nervous— was he also looking forward to tonight?

“—By the way, Lio, are you here with anyone?” Mrs. Fex asked, pulling Lio from his thoughts. 

Mr. Thymos opened his mouth to say something, but Lio was faster, looping his arm through his teacher’s. “My date  _ just  _ showed up, actually.”

Mrs. Fex and her wife only laughed, as did Lio, who settled his head against Mr. Thymos’ shoulder. He could pretend, after all. 

After a few more minutes of chatting, Mrs. Fex and her wife left to make their rounds around the dancefloor, leaving Mr. Thymos and Lio alone under the lantern-lit tree. 

The man shrugged him off, stepping away. “That wasn’t funny.”

“I don’t know, maybe Mrs. Fex thinks we’d be cute together. Maybe everyone else does, too.” 

“Aren’t you here with your friends?” He glanced behind Lio, trying to find the two troublemakers he usually hung out with. 

Lio didn’t want to think about them right now, still antsy over Meis’ questions. “Yeah, but they won’t miss me. Besides, we’re here as a couple, aren’t we? We should be spending the night together.”

“Will you  _ stop _ with that?” Mr. Thymos sighed, shooting him a glare. He was careful to keep his voice low. “I don’t know what even gives you the impression that this— this  _ thing  _ between us is consensual. If you hadn’t taken those pictures and made me hurt you—”

“Oh, but I  _ really  _ liked that, Mr. Thymos,” Lio said, tone sultry and dripping with something dangerous. “And you did, too. Didn’t it feel good to hurt me like that? Don’t you want to do it  _ again?” _

“I don’t— I’m not…” 

“Besides, I think  _ this,”  _ He pointed from himself to Mr. Thymos, “is more than just sex at this point.”

“So what the hell would you call it now?”

Lio looked up towards the tree, branches hanging low and shining with warm light. He thought of the first day he laid eyes on the man, all sunny smiles and kind eyes. He remembered how much he wanted him all for himself. And now that he had him in the palm of his hand, Lio could never get enough. 

When he looked back towards Mr. Thymos, his eyes were aglow with the winking fairy lights. “I’d call it love, Mr. Thymos.”

His words hung heavy in the air around them, unheard by any of the students passing by. Jarring would be an understatement; even hearing himself say the “L” word left him reeling with adrenaline.  _ This  _ must be what love felt like.  _ This  _ must be what it looked like— and it  _ must _ be real, because why else would Mr. Thymos look so stunned? 

He was probably waiting to say it first. He was probably mildly upset the Lio beat him to the punch, but  _ just  _ mildly, nothing a few kisses and a set of sheer panties can’t fix. 

“Lio,” Mr. Thymos said slowly, “Lio, you—” 

“C’mon, do you want something to drink?” He turned away, suddenly remembering why he left Meis and Gueira in the first place. The pills sat heavy in his jacket pocket. “Wait right here.”

He wasn’t very sure he should even be doing this, but he knew there would be no other way he would be able to get Mr. Thymos alone. Heads would turn if they simply left in the middle of the dance. There had to be a viable reason for a chaperone to leave with a student. 

(Getting these pills weren’t easy, either, so he sure as hell wasn’t going to waste them.)

The bar— which shouldn’t have even been labeled as a “bar”, since Meis was absolutely right in there being no alcohol— was set up against one of the gym walls, decorated in more fairy lights and faux moss. Lio could see the stacks of cases of water and soda peeking out from behind it, and decided on two cups of soda. 

The gym was dark, but not so much that one couldn’t see what Lio was doing with one of the drinks. Because of this, he had to be quick. The two pills were quite small, thankfully— easy to miss if he slipped them into one of the cups fast enough. 

His heartbeat was louder than the music and chatter around him, bursting in his ears as his shaky hand dropped them into the fizzing drink. 

Now came the hard part. 

Mr. Thymos was still waiting under the tree, shifting from foot to foot anxiously as students shouted greetings to him in passing. But he wasn’t alone. 

Principal Foresight stood to his left. 

Lio’s steps faltered, his grip on the cups tightening. Why the hell was he even  _ here?  _ He didn’t even  _ look _ nice, dressed in a cheesy white tux with baby blue accents and completely out of place next to Mr. Thymos— who was talking to him. Smiling at him. Looking up at him.

This didn’t make any sense. Lio  _ loved  _ him. He shouldn’t be looking anywhere else but at him. This was  _ their  _ night. Mr. Thymos dressed up for  _ Lio,  _ goddammit, not for anyone else. Mr. Thymos was his, his  _ his.  _

Lio’s grip on the cups softened as he approached the pair, deftly avoiding a couple that was getting too handsy. Principal Foresight’s expression changed for a brief moment as he approached, but it was gone before Lio could question it. “Here you go, Mr. Thymos. I hope Coke is okay?”

Mr. Thymos hesitated before taking the drink, but was quick to cover it up with a smile. “Yeah, thank you! I really, ah, appreciate it.”

He didn’t take a sip straight away, but Lio didn’t think much of it. Instead, he turned to the principal with a polite smile. “I didn’t think chaperoning prom would be your idea of a fun Friday night, Principal Foresight.”

“Not exactly,” the man chuckled. “But seeing as there was a lack in volunteers, I thought I’d help out. Are you enjoying yourself, Lio?”

So he  _ did  _ know his name. Lio wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “Very much. The art club really outdid themselves with the decorations. I was just talking to Mr. Thymos about it.” 

“I would think you would rather be spending your time with the other students.” Foresight said. “Not with your gym teacher.”

“Yes, well,” Lio said, bringing his cup to his lips. “Mr. Thymos is fun to talk to.”

Then he watched as Mr. Thymos took a drink from the cup he slipped the pills into. 

The effects would begin in about twenty minutes. Lio glanced at the clock caged on the wall, ticking away slowly. He had twenty minutes to put on a show in front of Principal Foresight and get Mr. Thymos far,  _ far _ away from him. 

“I’m glad he’s making a good impression on you,” Foresight said, giving an  _ infuriating  _ smile towards Mr. Thymos. “I’ve heard the rest of the students say similar things about you, Galo. You should be proud.”

_ Galo. _

Hearing that name from Foresight nearly made Lio see red. He used it back during detention and continued even now, which begged the question: how often were these two even  _ talking?  _ Lio imagined them texting, calling each other, going out on weekends, getting groceries together, all of the stupid domestic crap that he and  _ Lio  _ should be doing together. 

Mr. Thymos rubbed the back of his neck, laughing lightly. “I guess I’m sorta proud? I didn’t think I could get these kids to actually run laps, so.” 

“I don’t know, Mr. Thymos,” Lio chimed in, “I’ve certainly started taking my health and exercise seriously because of you. You’re a  _ great  _ influence.” 

“Th-Thanks, Lio.” He said, taking another sip from his cup. 

“Then again, you’ve always been a top student, haven’t you, Lio?” Foresight asked. “I’ve also heard a lot about  _ you _ from your teachers.” 

“Well, when your parents have such high hopes for you, it’s hard to disappoint.” He laughed, rolling his eyes. It was true, but he knew Foresight didn’t actually care. 

“What are your plans after graduation?” 

“Oh, the usual— go to an Ivy League college, graduate with honors, land a nice engineering job… and get married somewhere along the way.” Lio hasn’t really entertained the idea of marriage before, but then again, he hadn’t entertained the idea of  _ love  _ before Mr. Thymos. Maybe marriage wouldn’t be so bad, if it was with him.

He glanced at the clock again. 13 minutes. 

Foresight continued asking him questions, some about his future and some about his extracurricular activities— “I like to work out in my spare time, thanks to Mr. Thymos”— but it was all too intruding. Mr. Thymos would comment here and there, but Foresight kept a tight grip on the conversation. 

Lio gripped his now empty cup as he went on about his college entrance essays. “I’m really going to focus on my passion for…” He held his head in his hand, swaying slightly. The two men reached out to steady him, but he shook his head. “No, I’m okay, sorry. I just… have a headache all of a sudden.” 

He swayed again, but towards Mr. Thymos, who caught him in his arms. “Woah, are you— Lio, are you feeling alright?”

“Maybe you should sit down, Lio.” Foresight offered. 

“I’m fine, really,” Lio tried, wondering if this even looked believable. His grip on Mr. Thymos’ arm was tight, his other hand still holding his head. “Just… sleepy.” 

“Sleepy?” Mr. Thymos muttered, glancing at Lio’s empty cup. “Okay, let’s get you to the nurse’s office. You need to lay down.” 

“Galo—“ Foresight said. 

“It’s okay, I’ll see if I can get his parents to pick him up or something. I’m sure you can handle things here.” Mr. Thymos said light heartedly before turning to walk Lio through the clusters of students. 

Everyone was too preoccupied with their own night to glance in their direction, and they were through the double doors and out of the gymnasium rather quickly. Lio chanced a glance back towards the crowd of students— 

—And caught Meis’ sharp eyes. 

**Author's Note:**

> so. for this fic there was some inspo drawn from "high school sweet hearts" by melanie martinez (ahem the title), loooots from "you don't love me" by caro emerald, and ngl, a bit from "night to remember" from the hsm3 soundtrack.
> 
> i'm actually quite excited for this installment, but i'm also looking forward to the ending of this series. this au is so unique in that SO much shit could happen, one of my close irl friends and i get rly into our plot and where it could go. and im rly grateful for the twitter community + ao3 community for supporting my writing!! i haven't been this excited to sit down and write in a rly long time. I haven't been this motivated to FINISH something like this in a rly long time, either!
> 
> anyways. lmk what u think, per usual ♡


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